"Tens of the foreign nationals held at the detention center."Medan (ANTARA News) - The local immigration authorities have deported four Iraqi nationals to their country for having no travel documents.
The Iraqi nationals had been held at the Polonia immigration office`s detention center for more than one month before being deported to their country via Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta on Wednesday by a Garuda Indonesia flight, the spokesman of the North Sumatra office of the law and human rights ministry, Hasran Safawi said here on Friday.
Immigration officers at Polonia airport in Medan, capital of North Sumatra province, arrested the Iraqi nationals, identified as Salman Abdullah, M Yasir, M Alla Wilhiter and Abdellair Waryasa, last month as they were about to board a Jakarta-bound Lion Air plane.
"The four Iraqi nationals who have no necessary documents were later taken to the Polonia immigration office for questioning," he said.
The Iraqi nationals entered Indonesia via Tanjung Bali port from Portklang in Malaysia, he said.
He believed that the lingering conflict in Iraq had prompted the Iraqi nationals to leave their country.
North Sumatra had become a transit point for foreign nationals, including those from Iraq, Afghanistan, Thailand, and Myanmar over the past few months, he said.
Most of the foreign nationals were being held at the Belawan detention center in North Sumatra after being arrested for having no necessary documents, he said.
"Tens of the foreign nationals held at the detention center are waiting for their deportation to their country," he said.
(Uu.S012/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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